


teacups and memories

by electric_stydiax



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28038240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electric_stydiax/pseuds/electric_stydiax
Summary: Sometimes, it's the simplest things that help us realize what we keep close.or, Tetsurou gets sick and Kenma takes care of him. He also makes tea, remembering why he keeps Kuroo so close.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49
Collections: Kuroken Christmas Exchange 2020





	teacups and memories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Olliercc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olliercc/gifts).



> This was so so fun and lovely to write! I went with sick and added the roommates' factor to help the intimacy lol! I hope you enjoy reading it!

When Kuroo chose to move in with Kenma after graduating, he expected his reclusive best friend to fall ill first. He knows what each sniffle means and each weak “Kuroo? I’m thirsty.” actually meant in fluent Kenma-speak. 

Yet here he was, sticky and miserable. Even with a lack of blankets on him, Tetsurou still felt like he was turning into goo. 

“Nyanma! I’m thirsty again! Can I have something to drink please?” Kuroo sniffled pitifully. The man under the blanket felt bad for making Kenma get up for him, and make food and tea just so he could feel even a bit less icky.

The glare on Kenma held no heat or malice, but was still unamused. He padded out to the kitchen where a pot and kettle were already on and boiling from earlier. 

Making Kuroo’s tea for when he was sick was easy, but containing his feelings around him definitely wasn't. _Loose leaves or tea bags? Honey or sugar? His cat cup or his Gas Law mug? Lemon or Lime?_ Each miniscule choice showed how well Kenma knew Kuroo, but also how his mood was too.

Lemon and Honey are for sick days, while his gas law mug with PV=nRT on it made Tetsurou chuckle because ideals didn’t exist. As for loose leaves, Kuroo didn’t mind them but on bad days, like today a tea bag would be better, dropping one into the mug.

Then, a squeeze of a quarter of a lemon, not half because it would be too much and make Kuroo’s lips pucker the wrong way. It reminded him of the first time his mother made them both her lemon tea, fresh from leaves from the tree in their backyard, next to the blood orange tree.

“Mama, this is so sour! I don’t like it! What about you, Kenma?”

“You just need a little sugar, Kuroo. Let me add some, hm. Mama, can you help me?” Kenma asked, quiet as a librarian. 

“Of course, baby. I’ll get the sugar and add some for Tetsu-chan then. Would you like some too, Kenma?” Kozume Dai, Kenma’s mother asks, smoothing out her apron as she stands up.

“Yes, please mama! Kuroo, once mama puts the sugar in it’ll taste better! I promise it will!” Kenma exclaims, looking Kuroo in the eye.

Remembering that memory made Kenma realize that making Kuroo feel better, despite how prickly and anxious Kenma was and could be, is what he really wanted to do. Taking care of Tetsurou wasn’t a chore to him, but rather par for the course for their relationship.

 _Just like tea, it needed a moment to steep I suppose._ Kenma grabs a green tea bag, and the sugar jar. Two tiny scoops, and then the bag. The kettle screeches, and Kenma adds the water, waiting for it to steep. 

_So this is love, green tea and knowing the way they like it so well it warms you as well._ It’s nice, Kenma muses as he also grabs some toast and plates them up for his best friend, probably soulmate if he mulled over it more.

“Kuroo? Are you still awake? I have tea.” Kenma set the plate of toast and teacup down as he padded back out until he heard a groan.

“Kitten! Kenma! Don’t leave please! I’m lonely.” Tetsuro whines, face protruding in a pout and eyes big and pleading.

“Have to finish your noodles, stubborn baby. Try and stay awake for me, please? Then we can both sleep or watch cartoons, your decision.” Kenma murmurs, feeling Kuroo’s head for a temperature. 

“Cartoons. Then nap time because you’ll stream after dinner even though you should sleep in the hammock. 

~x~

“Thank you for taking care of me while I was sick. I know it’s not your favorite thing in the world.” Kuroo murmurs, standing right behind Kenma.

“It’s you. It’s not an inconvenience, but would it hurt you to take care of yourself better? I… don’t like seeing you like you were. I’m so used to you being the strong one that it felt…”

“Wrong? Like it was foreign? Kenma, you’re everything to me but you have to have more faith in yourself when it comes to how you care for people.”

“It felt like I was watching the world, my soul fall apart. Like logically I knew you weren’t dying but watching you, taking care of you made me realize something.” Kenma replies, trying not to cry in front of Kuroo. His gray hoodie is frayed at the wrists, but as Tetsurou pulls Kenma closer his heart feels tighter than ever. 

“I love you too, you know. I always knew, after you learned how to make my tea and just know when I need it. Like I need you in my life. Please, please don’t doubt my words.” Kuroo replied, hiccups in his speech as he pulled them both to the hammock.

“How did you know? I always thought I was too hard to read.” In that moment, Kenma let his mirrors and guards down, laughing so hard his tears came through. Kuroo looked down at him, half bewildered and half amused.

“Moments like these, where I can see you cracks slipping enough. You trust me enough to let me see those, and not anyone else Nyanma.” Kuroo proceeds to leave kisses along Kenma’s neck, traveling down his body like a map. 

“How can I show you what I’ve always known? How many ways can I express my dumb little heart to you, huh Kenma? You hate grand gestures, so that’s out. I’m horrid at video games, so that’s a wash and ~”

Kenma’s lips tasted of lemon, but Kuroo was so lost in the fact that he was being kissed that his brain couldn’t keep up. _Just like Mama Dai’s tree when we were kids, but better. So much better._

The hammock swayed as Kenma shifted himself upwards to Tetsurou’s face before kissing him again. His whole body reacted, pressing himself closer to him, chasing his warmth like a fighter on the last level between them and the end.

“Kenma. Kenma. We have to slow down, look at me. Baby, look at me. Can you look at me, please?”

“Yes. Do you want me to stop? Did I move too fast? Talk to me.” Kenma’s face was twisted in deep concern, the gold in his eyes intense and concentrated on Kuroo. 

“Everything you did I wanted. I stopped because I want you to eat before your stream, love. It’s in two hours and I know you’ll forget.” Kuroo pulled Kenma into his warmth, cooing at him before picking him up and carrying him to the kitchen.

“One day you’ll get sick of me. Just wait!” Kenma’s voice held no heat or actual seriousness to it as Kuroo set him down so he could feed them both. 

“That day will never come, but alright Nyanma. Whatever you say.” Kuroo warms the soup from last week as he makes tea for them both. He grabs Kenma’s calico cat cup, adding honey and lime to his cup as the kettle gets hot and he grabs the diffuser and loose leaf tea. 

“You remembered how I like my tea? Kuroo…”

“Hush. Like I said before, I care for you. Loving you is easy for me, Kenma. Let me?”

Kenma sighs, a small smile on his face as he watches Kuroo finish making lunch, setting his noodles down, then the tea,

“For you, I guess I can. I love you too.” The afternoon before he streams is spent just sitting in silence with each other, drinking tea and embracing the other silently as Kuroo kisses Kenma’s head. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @Estydiax on Twitter! 


End file.
